Linn amps with Keilidhs- will 2 x 140's make a dif

Probably you have already noticed the difference between the two amps. The LK140 has more energy and drive. Two of them would be very nice with Keilidhs, and you can certainly go active with them if you can find the crossovers.

Replacing the LK 85 with an LK 140 will make a difference. However, if you have a limited budget and have the choice of buying activ cards or buying a second LK 140, it's a no-brainer to choose the activ cards.

Keep in mind that when you go activ, you bypass the speaker's crossover where you lose over half of your signal. You can use a much smaller amp in activ mode because you're not losing any signal in the passive crossover. So going active has the side effect of making your amp seem more powerful. LK 85's with activ cards will be miles ahead of an LK 140 that only uses a passive crossover in the speaker.

LK 85's and LK 140's use the same activ cards by the way. So the amps and cards are interchangeable.

Thanks for the two responses guys! With regards to what Markphd is saying:
I wonder if 2 LK140's with activ cards would be much further ahead than an LK85 and 140 with cards. The cards seem a little challenging to find second hand, and in the meantime while i am looking i wonder if the extra 140 will make enough difference to be worth the few hundred extra dollars, or if i should just wait "patiently" for the cards to come along?

I have Kelieh, and have gone from passive, then to bi-active, and then to tri-activ. I have to tell you that as far as bang for the buck, going Aktiv is the only sound choice. At minimum, with what you have in the 85 and 140, I would recommend three possibilities.

1) Bi-wire the Keilidhs. Go bi-aktiv with the amps you have. Treble on the 140, bass on the 85. This will be the cheapest thing that you can do, and will sound tons better than switching from the 85 to another 140 and remaining passive.

2) Go tri-activ, which is my setup. You can put treble on the 140. Then by another 85, and go first bass in one 85 and second base in the other. For this you have to setup the speakers for tri-wire.

3) The other option is to sell the 85 and get two 140s, and then go tri-activ with all 140 for treble and bass. I don't think you need to do that. If and when you go tri-aktiv, the 85s on the bass channels will be very good.

So, to put it into steps, I'd suggest you have a treble aktiv cards installed in the 140 and bass card in the 85 and have the Keliedhs bi-wired. Then later on you can add another 85 with aktiv card and have the Keliedhs rewired for tri-wire aktiv.

Hope this helps.